Arizona sees drop in institutional homebuyers
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Institutional investors bought 6.9% of homes sold in Arizona in the first quarter of 2025, an 11% decrease from one year earlier, according to real estate data firm ATTOM.
Why it matters: Investors, who often compete with first-time buyers, have pulled back from the U.S. housing market in recent years.
By the numbers: In the Phoenix metro area, institutional investors bought 7.5% of houses in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 8.2% in the same stretch last year.
- The Arizona city with the largest share of houses bought by individual investors in the first quarter was Yuma, at 10%.
- That's a 22% jump from the same period last year.
- Tucson's rate dropped by 23%, to 5.7% of houses sold.
The big picture: Nationally, the total number of home sales to institutional investors in Q1 fell to its lowest rate since 2020 — mirroring a broader slowdown in the residential real estate market — even as their share of total sales ticked up to 6.3% from 6.1% in the previous quarter, per ATTOM.
- Alabama's share was highest at 10.9%, while Maine's was lowest at 2.7%, among states with enough data.
Catch up quick: Corporate homebuyers have been a contentious issue in Arizona as the state grapples with a housing shortage that's driven up prices.
- The League of Arizona Cities and Towns responded to this year's failed starter homes legislation with a counterproposal that would put limits on sales to investors.
- Gov. Katie Hobbs proposed starter homes legislation to limit the percentage of the new homes that could be sold to investors.
- In an op-ed in the Arizona Republic last year, Democratic state lawmakers Juan Mendez and Oscar De Los Santos argued that "price-gouging middlemen" keep houses out of would-be owners' hands, charge exorbitant rents and convert homes into short-term rentals.
Between the lines: Investors want to see strong population and job growth, solid rental yields, landlord-friendly regulations, affordability, and long-term appreciation potential, ATTOM CEO Rob Barber previously told Axios.
What we're watching: In states such as California, Minnesota and Oregon, investors are now offloading more homes than they're snatching up, Realtor.com reports.